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Pakistan commandos free 30 at army HQ, ending siege
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-11 12:32

Pakistan commandos free 30 at army HQ, ending siege
School children walk past the entrance to the Pakistan army headquarters which was attacked hours earlier by gunmen in Rawalpindi, on the outskirts of Islamabad October 10, 2009. [Agencies]

After a 45-minute gunfight, four of the attackers were killed, said Abbas, who initially told the Geo television news channel that the assault was over and the situation "under full control."

But more than an hour later, gunshots rang out from the headquarters compound, and Abbas then confirmed that other gunmen had eluded security forces and slipped into the compound.

A police intelligence report obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday had warned in July that members of the Taliban along with Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant group based in the country's Punjab province, were planning to attack army headquarters after disguising themselves as soldiers. The report was given to the AP by an official in the home affairs ministry in Punjab's home department.

Officials said Saturday that they had raided a house in the capital where the attackers were believed to have stayed. They found military uniforms and bomb-making equipment.

Militants regularly attack army bases across the country and bombed a checkpoint outside the army compound in Rawalpindi two years ago -- one of several major bombings to hit the garrison city in recent years. But rarely have the Taliban mounted an armed assault in the city involving multiple fighters.